Restore Blue Bags

Published: Tuesday, November 03, 1998

The recent announcement by the City Council that they are eliminating the "blue-bag" recycling program is very disappointing to me and to many others who cooperated with it enthusiastically. I would strongly urge reconsideration of this decision.

My disappointment is more intense when viewed in the light of the mayor's letter, "City Service Survey" (A-J, 10-26), in which it appears that if we point out deficiencies our complaints will be regarded as having no objective validity, giving merely a "negative impression" by a "vocal minority."

The truth is that the city has bungled this service badly, and is making no effort to salvage it. They first hired it out to what I consider an incompetent and unwilling contractor, then made no checks to see that the objectives of the program were being met, resulting in the scandal of much of the recyclable material being dumped into the landfill.

Now we are told that only a small minority of the city's population make use of the service, and that it is not economical to continue. Surely this is a matter for the council's leadership; a few well-chosen advertisements and public-service announcements in the media would result in greater awareness and usage of a highly desirable scheme.

In the absence of any attempt to retrieve the program, the council's mental acceptance of, and commitment to, modern practices in this area must be called into question.